Ernest Borgnine, 1917-2012

On July 3, we lost TV legend Andy Griffith at the age of 86. Five days later, we bid farewell to another Hollywood great: Ernest Borgnine.

Born Ermes Effron Borgnino in Hamden, Connecticut to Italian immigrants. His family moved back to Italy when he was only two, and then again to the United States a few years later.

Changing his name to Ernest Borgnine, he enlisted in the United States Navy in 1935, re-enlisting at the start of World War II. Afterward, he found his way to local theatre.

Borgnine’s breakout role as sadistic prison guard “Fatso” Judson in From Here to Eternity (1953) led to a string of tough guy and villain roles. Two years later he was cast as a kind-hearted butcher in the drama, Marty (1955), which won him the Best Actor Academy Award.